Last-second goal leads to boys’ soccer tie

The boys’ soccer team narrowly missed out on a road win Friday night, falling short on Loyola’s game-ending equalizer which knotted the score at 1.

Head Coach Kris Ward expressed dissatisfaction with the match’s final sequence, claiming that the game clock should have expired before Loyola was able to score.

“Everyone in and around the team, on the field, had forty-six minutes on their watches, as opposed to forty minutes as a half is supposed to be,” Ward said. “The referee, for whatever reason, seemed to think that was okay.”

Captain Theo Velaise ’17 scored the Wolverines’ only goal midway through the first half. Meanwhile, fellow captain Ethan Blaser ’17 exited the game early and will be evaluated for a concussion.

Despite the draw, the match continued a streak of strong play by the Wolverines, who are 2-0-1 in their last three games. The team has scored nine total goals over this stretch.

“I’ve known all along what the team was capable of,” Ward said. “I think it took having a big game against Alemany to get the belief from the players, from the administration, from the other people, to me, that the team is capable of quite a lot. So I certainly think if we can win our last four games we can get into the playoffs, leave no doubt about being in the playoffs.”

Despite the game’s outcome, Ward said that filing a complaint with the CIF is unlikely.

“It sounds like similar things have happened at Loyola in the past, so it’s just an expectation that we need to have when we go to their place,” Ward said.